A love letter to Harlem and hope. I Rise is smart and funny and full of heart.*Fourteen-year-old Ayo who has to decide whether to take on her mothers activist role when her mom is shot by police. As she tries to find answers, Ayo looks to the wisdom of her ancestors and her Harlem community for guidance.Ayo's mother founded the biggest civil rights movement to hit New York City in decades. Its called See Us and it tackles police brutality and racial profiling in Harlem. Ayo has spent her entire life being an activist and now, she wants out. She wants to get her first real kiss, have a boyfriend, and just be a normal teen.When her mom is put into a coma after a riot breaks out between protesters and police, protestors want Ayo to become the face of See Us and fight for justice for her mother who can no longer fight for herself. While she deals with her grief and anger, Ayo must also discover if she has the strength to take over where her mother left off.This impactful and unforgettable novel takes on the important issues of inequality, systemic racism, police violence, and social justice.*Kwame Alexander, New York Timesbestselling author

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 320 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc .